On this blog you can read about my encounters
with local and far-away wildlife,
my adventures and encounters with travelers and locals
with lots of wildlife photos.
I've traveled around in East-Africa, Central America and Madagascar.
The blog is also about wildlife spotting, biodiversity and conservation.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Impalas are quite well known to the common public. And the impala (Aepyceros melampus) is likely one of the first animals you'll ever see on a safari. As it goes with common animals: the first encounter the 4x4 or overland truck stops and everybody takes pictures of the impalas in a far distance. Better shots will follow soon as your safari adventure goes by.

However, at a certain point they become so common that you hardly take a shot of them at the next encounter. The vehicle won't stop for them anymore. That is why in some parks I actually have hardly taken a photo of impalas. Leaving me without proper 'spotting' of this wildlife on photo in a certain park. Well, I still have enough great impala photos!

Though the impala looks like your average gazelle or antelope at a superficial glance, they actually are not quite so much gazelles. Impalas have their own subfamily: Aepycerotinae. That subfamily consists of only one species: the impala. That makes the impala a special case. And still how common it may seem, it's a magnificent animal in all it's beauty.

For those who like the biological details:Click a link and you'll go to the Flickr photo page for that rank in the biological classification. Or have a look in the 'Find wildlife photos' menu item on the left.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

26 July 2008.
In Exotic Reserve Peyrieras they also had a bunch of Leaf-tail Geckos (Bladstaartgekko's). These weird creatures form a distinct group, yet the lineage and their place between other geckos is still a bit of a mystery. But let's not go that way.

Giant leaf-tail gecko / reuzenbladstaartgekko

The Leaf-tail Geckos (or Leaf-tailed Geckos) are within the genus of Uroplatus. They all have flat bodies and a flat leaf shaped tail. They are incredibly well camouflaged. In a reserve like this one it's easy. They just take them out of their cage and you make the photos. In the wild I've also encountered several Leaf-tail geckos. I'm reasonably good at spotting wild life. But these geckos? The guide points them out. Still oblivious what he's pointing at. Only at closer inspection you actually see the gecko. Their camouflage is brilliant, they press their body flat against the trunk of a tree, blending in with the bark. The side edges of some species even have some mossy filaments so you won't see any transition between the gecko and the tree.

Southern leaf-tail gecko / mosbladstaartgekko

I love them. Even their eyes are camouflaged! When they open their mouths - when threatened they do so - you'll see less camouflage: bright orange and red colours. That sudden flash should scare away any predators :-)I've now published photos of 3 Leaf-tail geckos. Have a close look at the Southern Leaf-tail Gecko (Mosbladstaartgekko). The camouflage is striking. I have pictures - not yet online - of this one on a trunk of a tree. You just don't see it. You really have to look closely. Look at the eyes as well. I've never seen such beautiful, spectacular and even camouflaged eyes. Weird marble pattern...
With the Giant Leaf-tail Gecko you can see how it blends in with the dead palm leaves. The colour and texture is just perfect.
I've shown pictures of the Lined Leaf-tail Gecko (Gestreepte Bladstaartgekko) to my family. Especially my sister did not believe the picture - the first photo of this blog - was real. They sell a lot of toys and souvenirs to tourists in Madagascar. Made of sisal, palm leaves or raffia. She believed it was fake. It could not be a real animal. Until I showed her multiple pictures of the same animal, moving around. This Leaf-tail gecko has a stunning beauty with elegant lines. A marvel of natural design and evolution!

Southern leaf-tail gecko / mosbladstaartgekko

For those who like the biological details:
Click a link and you'll go to the page for that rank in the biological classification.

There is still quite some debate within the scientific world on how to classify the suborders and infraordes within Squamata. Here I've joined the snakes and geckos together in one suborder (in a previous post I placed the snakes classically still in their own suborder).

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

So, I've uploaded a bunch of hippo photos. You can see them in the East Africa photo stream at the top of my blog.The photos uploaded are made in Maasai Mara in Kenya, Queen Elizabeth in Uganda, Serengeti and Mikumi in Tanzania. Yeah, I also have hippo picks from Ngorongoro and Selous, but just did not upload them. You have to make some sort of selection...

For those who like the biological details:Click a link and you'll go to the Flickr photo page for that rank in the biological classification. Or have a look in the 'Find wildlife photos' menu item on the left.